The sun was slowly setting, leaving shadows of trees and the remains of what seemed to be a camp. The group of adventurers were finally leaving now that the griffins were fully rested.
"It's good to see you ready like this." Decus laughed as he passed by Spes. Last time they were about to leave like this, he had to personally carry the hangover Spes on his shoulders.
"I actually never had the time to apologise for that day... Really sorry about that, Decus." The young Spes's face slightly flushed red, recalling the moment.
"I really don't mind. Just try to stay away from the captain's heels." Decus winked at Spes before heading towards his griffin.
"You sure are good at making allies." A familiar voice caught Spes's attention as he loaded his last baggage on his griffin.
"Allies?" Spes raised an eyebrow as he turned around, knowing immediately who was speaking.
"The tall pretty boy." The fat Vota rolled his eyes at Spes's ignorance.
"Oh, Decus? Yeah, he's a good friend." Spes nodded with an eyebrow slightly raised.
Vota grinned widely at the young man in front of him, taking out a flask of wine from his pouch in the process.
"So is he your ally or your friend?" he asked while popping the lid off the flask.
"Decus is both... I think. Aren't they the same?" Spes slightly frowned at the thought. He'd never considered the question before.
"An ally—" Vota paused in his words as he instead sipped his wine first.
"Yeah, an ally is just like a friend, but without all the personal feelings involved."
Finishing his statement, Vota closed his eyes and drowned the wine down his throat, grunting in satisfaction. His pleasant feeling felt off when the young man in front of him suddenly went silent. So Vota opened one eye, checking what was off with Spes.
Vota was indeed right. Spes was slightly frowning while crossing his arms. Something was obviously preoccupying him, and Vota could vaguely guess what was on his mind.
"Don't worry, lil guy. You're one of my few good friends!" Vota laughed as he gave a few strong pats to Spes to reassure him.
"W-what about everyone else?" Spes asked, voicing the other thought that was concerning him.
"They're neither," Vota coolly stated as he took another sip of wine.
"Wait, why?!" Spes's eyes widened in surprise, hearing Vota's ridiculous words. It was a naturally expected reaction—it shouldn't be normal that, for Vota, the party was neither ally nor friend.
"Hey, don't give me that face." Vota raised his thick arms, as if saying: it's not my problem.
"You see, everyone here are just strangers thrown together by a common circumstance."
As he spoke, Vota got very close to Spes and added while whispering, "There's no reason not to exert a bit of caution... Especially towards those Inquisitors."
Coincidentally, during the pair's secretive conversation, an Inquisitor passed by them, dragging a wooden crate behind him.
Vota spat in disgust at the ground as the armoured knight left the vicinity.
"The King's fucking dogs. They'll backstab even their loved ones if the order was given," he hatefully whispered to Spes as he eyed the surrounding Inquisitors that were clearing the camp.
As for Spes, he just listened quietly next to him. He didn't know what to respond, as he had mixed feelings on the matter. The vice-captain had been very friendly to him since their first meeting. As for the captain, they hadn't had a good start, but now she was personally training him to help him survive the journey.
Despite all that, during his years with his master, the talks about the Inquisition hadn't been all that merry. It was so bad that in some towns they'd visited in the past, it was completely taboo to mention their name—as something unspeakable had been done by them there.
"Anyways, any progress on your assignment?" Spes's thoughts were interrupted as Vota changed the subject.
A small grin emerged on the young man's face when the question was asked. Spes immediately rambled on all that he found about Crystal with enthusiasm. He talked about how her training had been personally supervised by the General, and also the most important information he discovered: her weakness.
Vota immediately put away his wine flask upon hearing Spes. The more he spoke, the more Vota's eyes widened.
"So that's why!" he shouted quietly as he shook Spes's shoulders.
"No wonder she has such a strong reputation of putting down her foes within seconds!"
"You really did a good job in such a small time-frame, kid. You're a natural at this!" Vota laughed loudly as he gave Spes many pats of approval.
"I was just lucky..." Spes, as he usually does, just weirdly scratched his head, not knowing how to accept the compliment.
"Luck or not, with what you have, you're halfway to beating Crystal."
"R-really?" Spes started stuttering, not expecting that such a small thing he found would already assure him a half victory.
"You already know her physical weakness. Honestly, with some sacrifice we can work with that and beat her." Vota spoke as he held his thick chin, analysing a scenario in his head.
"W-what's there to lose for a victory?" Spes asked, seeing that Vota was thinking about the matter.
Vota slightly frowned in response as his thoughts were interrupted. Still, while scratching his thick chin, he answered Spes's inquiry: "There's a lot of factors at play, kid... like what you would consider as a victory, and the aces up your sleeve."
"You two idiots!" A cold voice called out to both of them from afar. It was none other than Crystal, who was on top of her griffin. It was apparent what she called them out for, as all her men were already mounted, ready to leave at any time.
"We're leaving," she added before heading to the front where she could lead the flight.
"Damn, I'm not done packing yet!" Vota grumbled, realising that he'd wasted so much time talking with Spes.
"Don't forget to think about your aces, kid!" Vota gave one last piece of advice before quickly dragging his thick body towards his men.